head to head · open source
Ladybird vs snapdom
Ladybird has 66,240 GitHub stars, 3,162 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped today. snapdom has 8,128 stars, 303 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ladybird leads on adoption by 715% (66,240 vs 8,128 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; snapdom is written in JavaScript under MIT. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, snapdom 4%. Ladybird was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Ladybird | snapdom | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 8.1K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 303 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Ladybird if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick snapdom if
- You want the snapdom feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and snapdom fits your workflow better
About Ladybird
Ladybird is a truly independent web browser and browser engine, written from scratch in C++ rather than as a fork of any existing engine, and it is built for developers who want to work on a browser engine based on web standards while it remains in a pre alpha state.
read the full Ladybird overview →
About snapdom
SnapDOM is a dependency free browser capture engine that renders a live DOM element into a reusable capture and exports it as SVG, PNG, JPG, WebP, canvas, Blob, self contained HTML, image based PDF, animated GIF or browser encoded video, built for frontend developers who need screenshots, share images or exports of real web interfaces.
read the full snapdom overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or snapdom more popular?
Ladybird has 66,240 GitHub stars and snapdom has 8,128. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and snapdom free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and snapdom under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and snapdom?
Ladybird is written in C++ and snapdom in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Ladybird or snapdom?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,240 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose snapdom if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.